Why "22C+"?

For those who don’t know me, and that’s an awful lot of people, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Marcus Anthony, the guy in the picture frame at right. I describe myself as a “futurist at large”, not because I’m obese, but because I’m into free-thinking about the future, and much of what I write about doesn’t quite fit into mainstream academic thought. I’ve written scores of academic articles about the future, and countless more internet articles and stories. I’ve also written two books, both of which address the future in very different ways. “Integrated Intelligence” is based on my doctoral theses, and analyses mainstream and alternative theories of mind and intelligence. “Sage of Synchronicity” is far more accessible to the general public, and is both a serious and fun guide to living your Bliss using intuitive mind, or what I call Integrated Intelligence.

Enough about me. This blog is just as much about us, about our  futures.

Why the name "22C+"?

“22C” refers, of course, the 22nd century, while the "+" symbol suggests moving beyond that century.As Einstein famously stated, no significant problem is ever solved at the level of consciousness at which it is created. If we think of the future as being the immediate time ahead of us, we won't achieve the necessary distance required to really step back and take a look at the big picture. We will get stuck in the current way of thing, the dominant assumptions about where we are heading, and the current hegemonies. We will suffer from paradigm blindness.

The 22nd century is still 90 years away. That is probably just enough of a time frame to get us thinking outside the box.

The future is a long time.

One of the reasons why I started this blog is that I am passionate about a wide array of topics related to the future. I have written about the futures of intelligence, artificial intelligence, evolution, consciousness, China, the environment, education, research, and even the futures of Futures Studies itself. But I hope this blog will stretch far beyond these parameters. Don't feel constrained by my constraints, nor limited by my limitations. 22C+ is all about Deep Futures (more about that in a later blog post).

What’s different about this blog about the future is that it’s focus will be about thinking outside the box, beyond the normal ways of thinking about our tomorrows. So don’t just expect to read and blog about the latest i-phone or some other danfangled gadget. There’s nothing wrong with gadgets and technology, but there’s much, much more to the future than widgets and flying cars. In fact, I am just as interested in the way that our thinking and imagining futures becomes restricted, as I am in the futures themselves.

On The Foresight Network, Dr Michael Jackson recently lamented the fact that Futures Studies hasn’t achieved the standing that he feels such an intrinsically fascinating discipline it deserves. http://shapingtomorrowmain.ning.com/forum/topics/how-can-we-raise-the-profile .While 22C+ isn’t specifically restricted to Futures Studies as such, I hope it will prove to be a small correction this situation.

22C+ is a blog for people passionate about thinking new thoughts regarding all the myriad possible futures that lie before us. I invite contributions from guest bloggers, especially futurists and those who write think and speak about the future. You don’t have to be an expert, just someone with a good idea. Just send an email to me, Marcus, at "mindfutures at gmail dot com".

Marcus